Colleague getting more opportunities than me

[BlueDressontheLine]

Im on 80% contract. He is full time. Worked at the same place for same amount of time. Ive found out he is getting a say on changes in the team, knows things I don't know and is on the interview panel for a new starter. I have not been offered any opportunities like this. Same grade. Aibu to tackle this with my manager?

‘Hi boss, I want to become more senior. I’ve noticed that people on the next grade up do X, can I do ABC to get exposure to that?’

Or ‘I think our company would be more effective if we did Y, which we’ve never tried. Can I do a side project to see how we can build that’.

Work isn’t like school where you move up every year by default. It’s your career, you develop it.

is there a difference between you and your colleague re wfh and office days? Sometimes those people who are in office more get more opportunities come their way..

Do you suffer with main character syndrome? You appear to have an extremely high opinion of yourself. "No im better at the job" who is telling you this? Maybe the other employee doesn't have an inflated ego and is generally a more likeable character. Do you put people at ease and have a calm reassuring nature? Workplaces thrive having a balance of people who offer different qualities. His quality may be that he is more immediately likeable and suited to building relations on a first meeting. You might have better attributes in another field of your work in which he is not as good.

It's not sneaky, and it's not keeping you out of the loop. It's a matter being your colleague and their manager. Presumably he asked for development opportunities and expressed an interest in recruitment, have you done that? Your manager telling you both and letting you decide who does what would be bad management. Your colleague has been identified for experience in this area and not you. You won't always get the same experience at the same time, and you need to be proactive about your own development if you want to get the experience yourself.